


The Sunset of Legacy

by RollingMist13



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Character Death, Enemies to Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:20:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26123395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RollingMist13/pseuds/RollingMist13
Summary: The Dragon Queen's forces clash with the Lannister's host as the war for the Seven Kingdom's rages on but amongst the battlefield two unlikely opponents meet again and memories are renewed. Tywin and Arya focused AU one-shot.
Relationships: Tywin Lannister & Arya Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 53





	The Sunset of Legacy

* * *

**_Year 305 AC_ **

_A year into the invasion of Westeros by the Dragon Queen Daenerys Targaryen …._

**Whispering Wood, Northwestern Riverlands, South of the Blue Fork of the Trident and North of Raventree Hall, A few days ride north of Riverrun**

* * *

The clash of swords was deafening and the fire licked the battle field. The sweat trickled down Lord Tywin's back and his raspy breaths indicated that he couldn't sustain this pace of cut and thrusting for much longer. The delirious grin on the leather clad Dothraki's face indicated he knew it too.

The curved blade of the Dothraki dented his amour once again and Tywin silently thanked his blacksmith for choosing functionality over presentation. The Dothraki screamed in joy as if he had actually hit flesh and bone or maybe he was enjoying toying with a foe he knew was slower, older and approaching complete physical exhaustion. A confrontation impossible to lose in his mind.

_But no one plays with a Lion. Even an old lion._

The Dothraki lunged forward, his curved blade whistling threw the air. Instead of attempting to dodge the blow, which Tywin doubted he had the agility or the energy left at this point in the battle to do, so he moved towards it and once it had thudded into his armoured side brought his sword arm down to clamp the curved sword to his side and plunged the dagger in his other hand into the Dothraki's throat. The man's eyes bulged in disbelief or maybe it was pain as he crumpled to the floor.

Tywin had lost count of the amount of looks like that he had seen today, _was this the seventh, eighth, tenth?_ Well number ten had managed to draw blood with his last blow. Tywin glanced towards the still embedded curved sword in his amour – it had finally managed to strike flesh finding a gap between armour plates on Tywin's side.

The effort of the kill combined with the pain of the wound in his side toppled Tywin onto the muddy forest floor that served as the stage for this horror show of a battle. He fully expected to die here amongst the screams of agony and the suffocating heat of furious fighting.

His expectations were almost fulfilled when he dug his long sword into the dirt to help lift his weary body from the ground and an unsullied charged at him. Tywin had no shield to deflect the oncoming spear from piercing him, he'd used it to bash number five's head in but had to abandon it when number six had tackled him to the floor. Tywin had long considered death on the battlefield an acceptable way to leave this world.

Tywin could only stare at his onrushing attacker with a certain amount of contentment in his being.

His acceptance of a warrior's death was interrupted not by the tip of a spear but by his brother. Ser Kevan slammed his body against the tunnel focused unsullied sending him tumbling to the ground and dispatched the crumped heap on the ground with his sword.

"Tywin move. They are advancing," Kevan shouted with panic in his eyes

Before Tywin could utter a reply, an arrow lodged itself through Kevin's throat. He fell to the ground grabbing at his throat. He attempted to speak but blood started to fill his mouth. Kevan tried to crawl to Tywin but another arrow struck his back and he collapsed just short.

When Gerion had got lost at sea Tywin declared him a fool, when Tygett died of his illness Tywin felt nothing but indifference. Kevan was different, he had always trusted Tywin's leadership and in return Tywin had always trusted Kevan to carry out his orders with competence and discretion. It was a partnership that had worked with efficiency. If Tywin was the artist, Kevan was his brush and in this moment Tywin felt that loss of agency and connection.

Tywin gripped his sword tighter and closed his eyes expecting the next arrow to reunite him with his brother.

 _Still a warriors' death and still better than being burnt alive by dragon fire,_ Tywin surmised as he waited for death to hurl towards him.

* * *

His calm acceptance of death was broken by a sharp feminine voice.

A voice he knew.

"Surrender Lord Lannister, your men are outnumbered and soon we will push them out into the open. You know what waits out in the open?"

Easy answer. Dragons, fire and death awaited beyond the cover of the forests canopy. It was why Tywin had chosen to camp in the forest. A dragon wouldn't burn what it couldn't see. At least if they were to fight in the forest they would fight man to man not man to wall of fire. One scenario had a chance of success the other did not.

Tywin lifted his head and opened his eyes. He saw a young girl holding a bow and arrow pointed directly at him. His brother's murderer. His mind couldn't place her looks but the voice was familiar. She took a few steps closer.

Unsullied and Dothraki advanced on the still kneeling Tywin but the young woman waved them forward to continue flushing the rest of the Lannister army out of the forest.

"My Lady, he is still armed," an unsullied pointed out.

"It will do him no good Grey Worm ," the small woman said.

Tywin was inclined to agree, he didn't have the strength to pull his sword free let alone swing it at her and he was pretty sure the bleeding wound on his side would render any sudden movement incomplete and result in him gasping on the floor in pain.

"Very well my Lady ," Grey Worm replied while signalling for his platoon to advance and ignore the scene in front of them.

Tywin felt an uneasy feeling tug at him. The unsullied had said my Lady _….. My Lady …. Mi'Lord ….._

Recognition clouded Tywin's eyes and disbelief his mind. His former cup bearer stood in front of him aiming her bow at him and if the arrows protruding from Kevan's neck were any indication she was extremely lethal with it.

"Girl?" Tywin questioned.

" _Mi'Lord_ ," Arya bowed her head slightly without taking her eyes or crosshairs off Lord Tywin.

A group of unsullied approached their position but Arya waved them on again and they obeyed without comment.

Tywin noted the respectful way the unsullied obeyed without thought and barked, "Who are you?"

The petit woman took a breath and locked eyes with Tywin, "I am Arya Stark of Winterfell."

 _Arya Stark was in Harrenhel, right under my nose,_ Tywin cursed the missed chance in his head while remember their past exchanges with fondness. _A father that was killed by loyalty. Of course. She really was too clever for her own good._

"Not a fair maiden from Maidenpoll then?" Tywin quipped almost to himself.

Arya smile turned into a full face grin and she lowered her bow.

Tywin sighed, _I had Arya Stark serving me as a cupbearer. All the plans and strategies that would have been available. Blast it all._

Sweat and blood was mingling at Tywin's feet and threaten to join with the pool of blood generated from Kevan's throat. Kevan had died quickly with a few gurgles, much better than being roasted alive Tywin thought which is probably his fate now. While Tywin had been processing the fact that Lady Arya Stark had served him countless meals and stood a few feet away while his war council had been plotting how to destroy her brother's army Arya had closed the remaining distance between herself and Tywin so there was less than a foot between them now.

"If you are going to use that sword now would be the time," Arya stated.

"Would it be any use?" Tywin questioned eyeing the various gleaming blades underneath her cloak. She had an air of lethality that hadn't been there at Harrenhal.

"No," Arya replied honestly.

Arya already knew her counter movements if Tywin made to unearth his sword and attack her.

Tywin believed her and pulled himself up and upon reaching his full height released his two handed grip on the sword and applied pressure to his wound instead. He looked around him.

Dead Lannister littered the ground with a few Dothraki and Unsullied scattered amongst the red amour. Once proud lions now lying broken in the mud. He had lost this battle, this war, and his legacy. Once the Targaryen army had finished killing the last dregs of his once forty thousand strong Lannister army they would push on King's Landing and he knew Cersei and Jamie wouldn't be able to stop them. If they had any sense, they would flee like the Targaryens before them. But Tywin doubted Jamie's so-called honour would allow for that or Cersei's arrogance.

 _This is how it ends for House Lannister,_ Tywin thought, _In Fire and Blood._

Tywin took off his helmet and dropped it to the ground.

"What are you waiting for _Lady Stark_?" Tywin forced out, "For me to beg for my life?"

"No, my Lord. I think I would die of old age before I saw you beg for anything. Lord Tyrion expressed a desire to talk to you if you survived the battle."

"The battle is not over slit my throat and tell him I did not survive," Tywin demanded harshly.

Arya took a step closer with a dagger in her hand.

"You do not want to talk to him?" Arya asked in a soft voice as the cries of dying soldiers surround them.

"For what reason? So he can gloat over his victory, put another mad Targaryen on the throne, to further tarnish my legacy and humiliate me? I have had enough of that in my life from him and he will not sully my death!" Tywin roared then winced as the movement aggravated his injury.

A few passing Dothraki and Unsullied close enough to hear Tywin's triad looked in their direction but none deviated from their path. Arya remained silent, the dagger not moving an inch in her hand.

"Why didn't you kill me in Harrenhal?" Tywin murmured once he had regained his composure. It seemed that Arya Stark of Winterfell had joined Tyrion as being one of the only people able to rile Tywin.

Arya took a few moments to formulate her response. Some armoured soldiers on horseback rode past avoiding the dead bodies and sullied weapons, the backend of the army must be catching up to the battle Tywin mused.

Arya avoided Tywin's eye contact as she replied in a quiet voice. "I nearly did. Each time I considered ending your life I found that there was always another name in front of yours on my list."

"Your list?" Tywin questioned.

"Yes my list of people I will kill," Arya answered.

"You know most girls in their spare time they write poems, learn a dance, perhaps paint the sunset but Lady Arya Stark of Winterfell has a kill list," Tywin said while trying to keep a smile off his face. When he couldn't he blamed exhaustion as the reason.

"Most girls are stupid," Arya instantly shot back returning his small smile.

The sound of an army on the move surrounded them. The clinging of metal on metal, horses' hoofs clattering on the ground, the terrified howls of dying soldiers being put out of their misery.

Tywin wondered why he wasn't one of them yet.

"Kill me," Tywin said in a strained but steady voice.

Arya stared at him in hesitation then broke their eye contact to look at the dead body of Kevan that was by her feet.

"I am still on your list am I not? Yes? So, take me off your list," Tywin pushed. He would not suffer the humiliation of being a prisoner of war.

Tywin's hold on his wound was weakening. Blood loss was making it hard to maintain his thoughts and he closed his eyes to concentrate.

Arya advanced with cat like efficiency and within a blink of an eye she had an obscenely large jewelled dagger at his throat.

 _Finally,_ Tywin thought.

It was time to see Joanna, his father, his mother, all of his brothers and to finally rest. God how he wanted to rest. All his life he had out maneuverer, outworked and out willed his rivals and enemies. Now it was time to rest and let go.

As Arya's hand tensed Tywin whispered, "I am glad it is you."

And with one flick of her wrist the great Lion of Lannister fell and Arya guided his body to the ground as best she could.

The blood gushed from the dying lions throat and his blood started to soak Arya's hands and trousers but she didn't care as she cradles his dying breaths. She saw the life leave Lord Tywin Lannister's eyes and the feeling of fulfilment and elation that usually comes when a name is crossed off her list just wasn't there.

Instead she felt alone and cut adrift. A feeling she hadn't felt since her father had died. Arya closed Tywin's eyes and silently thanked him for all his lessons and then let him go.

Arya straighten to her full height, took one last look at the Great Lion then continued onward through the muddy battlefield.

There were still names on her list.


End file.
